Improvement in making knitting-needles



T. SANDS. 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

I Making Knitting.Needles. No. 38,9 87. Patented June 23, I863.

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' T.SANDS.

yMaking Knitting Needles.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 No. 38,987. I I Patented lime 23, 1863-- N. PETERS. Fhuw-Lillwlgnphcn Wnhhgon. D. C.

lhai'ren STATES ATENT @rrica.

THOMAS SANDS, OF GILFORD', NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MAKING KNITTING-NEEDLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,9Q7, dated June 1863 antedated June It), 1863.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS SANDS, of Gilford, in the county of Belknap and State of 'New Hampshire, have invented an Improvesame, reference beiu g had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification.

My machine is intended for saving a great part of the labor that has heretofore been required for making machine knitting-needles by hard, and is so constructed that the several operations of carrying the steel wire forward to the block, making the eye, slabbing down the \vire,and cutting off the length suitable for a needle, is all performedautomatically, and the needles are dropped into a box, ready for the hands of the polisher.

The machine is about three feet in length aad two and a halt feet wide. The power is applied by a small pinion, which drives the large gear A, Figure I, and gives a steady and uniform motion to the shaft B, which extends the whole length of the machine and revolves in the direction shown by the arrows, in suitable bearings placed on opposite sides of the frame. Attached to the horizontal shaft B are three cams, O, I), and E, their shape, as seen in the side views, Figs. II, III, and IV, being such as to produce the required movements of the three principal groups of mechanism. A horizontal counter-shaft, F, extends across the top of the machine and is driven by a band from the pulley Q on the main shaft. It carries a small grooved pulley, G, which by means of the baud H drives thepulley I, and gives rotary motion to the wire straightener, which consists of a short tube, J, turning in the bearings N N, and having at its central part a rectangular frame, K K L L, across which extend three bars, having holes (placed out of line with each other) for the passage of the wire 0. When the machine is in action the steel wire passes from the reel P into one end of the hollow shaft J, and issues at the other end of the shaft perfectly straight and in readiness to be formed into needles.

I. will first describe the mechanism represented in Figs. I andIV, by which the wire 0 is carried forward from the straightener to the parts that punch the eye and scarf down and cut off the needle. In the scroll-cam E a accurately fills the breadth of the slot and is firmly fixed to the part W. The stud V, which forms the fulcrum of the lever T T, is aftixed to the top board or table, 41. By means ofthe adjusting-screws X X the lever may be setin any required position within the slot U, for the purpose ofchan ging the distance traversed by the end T. The position of the stand Y that supports these parts is also adjustable by means of screws that attach it to the top plate, 41, of the frame of the machine. Bythis arrangement of the several parts the end T of the lever is made to communicate a greater or less traverse to the short attached arm Z, which moves the sliding platform 1, being fastened to it by the pivot 22. This platform slides upon the dovetailed rail or bar 3, the greater length of its traverse being equal to the length of the longest needle required to be made.

I will now describe the parts that are connected with the middle cam, D, as represented in Figs. I and III. This cam is made broad in the direction of the length of the shaft. Its shape is shown in Fig. III. It is affixed to the shaft B, and, when turned, raises and lowers the bent lever 4 4 4 4 the requisite distance to punch the eye of the needle, and at the proper intervals of time. This bent lever 4 has its fulcrum at the pin 5, which passes through the lever and the stand 6, the stand being supported by the sliding platform 1, and moving with it. The vertical part 4 is always over some part of the'broad cam D,

and the opposite end, 4, is over the anvil or block 61, upon which the needle-wire O rests, being supported in a longitudinal groove, 7, upon its face. This block stands in a holdingblock, 8, and is kept firmly in place by the set-screw 9 9. The punch that forms the eye is shown at 48, the end being formed in the exact shape required for the eye. A vertical stem, 11, rises from it and is very accurately fitted into the enlarged head of the lever4. Through the top of this head a screw, 12, plays, by which the height of the punch is adjusted. A guide, 13, is attached to the top board, 41, and gives support to the wire 0, as it moves from the hollow tube J to the block 61.

The apparatus for cutting or slabbing the wire down to the proper size and taper, and also for cutting olf the length required for a needle, is shown in Figs. I and II. The cam 16 is fastened to the shaft B, and revolves in contact with the frictionslide 17 that projects from one end of the lever 18. This lever has the fulcrum 20 at its opposite end, where it is supported by the stud 21, that is secured to the table 41. The friction'slide 17 is held in contact with the cam by the spiral spring 32. A pitman, 22, is connected by pivots 19 and with the lever 18 and knob 24, which is affixed to the horizontal flat lever, 25. A hole is bored through the center of this lever, within which the shaft 43 revolves, being driven by the counter-shaft F and the mitergears 26 and 27. The lever is hung on centers at 42 42, and its front end carries a small burr or rasp wheel, 30, which is made fast to the end of the shaft 43 by a nut, 31. An upright stud, 29, rises from the table of the machine and passes through a rectangular slot in the lever, serving to keep it steady as the out ter rise and falls. A sm: 11 piece of iron, 36, is fitted to a bed-piece that rests upon the table 41. A hole through one end ofit steadies the wire 0, while the other is beveled down, to allow the cutter or burr wheel to come in contact with the wire.

The apparatus for cutting off the wire to the proper length for a needle is constructed as described below. A cam, O, (in contact with cam 16,) is aflixed to the shaft B, and carries a short projecting stud or wiper, 15. This comes in contact, at each revolution, with the part 33 that projects from the vertical part 34 of the sliding bar 34 35. This bar is thus moved forward horizontally, traversing in guides or slides 44 45 40 46, and forces the cut ter 39 against the wire, cutting it off to the length required. The slide is brought back and held in contact with the cam by the spiral .spring 28.

Having explained the several parts of my machine, I will now describe the operation of the samewhen in use. The steel wire is coiled upon the reel, and the free end of it is inserted in the tube of the wire-straightener, and led through the bars to the eyeblock, where the punch is brought down upon it. The sliding platform 1, upon which the eye-making apparatus is supported, is now at the left end of the rail 3. As the cam E revolves, the slot It moves the lever T T and the connecting-arm Z, which pushes the platform to the right and draws the wire 0 through the straightner, the part 4' of the eye-punch lever traversing at the same time across the breadth of the cam D. As the bent lever falls into the cavity of the cam D, the punch rises, but previous to this the wire has been carried forward to the cutter 30, where it is slabbed down to the right taper by the parts represented in Fig. II. The cam 16 depresses the lever 18, and draws down the pitman and swing-lever 22 25. This brings down the circular cutter 30, which is constantly rotating, and reduces the end of the needle to the desired shape, its section being nearly oval. The projection 15 on the cam 0 now comes in contact with the slide-bar 34, moves the sliding plate 39, and cuts off the length required for a needle. This length is fixed by adjusting the sliding fulcrum of the lever T so that it will give a greater or less traverse to the sliding table. The needles are now in condition to go to the finisher, in whose hands they are polished, and the hook bent to the required form for use in a knitting-machine.

In Fig. II the curved red line is equidistant from the center, and the black line 49 shows the form of the face of the cam 16, the distance of the face from the center of motion being greatest at the beginning of the stroke. This depresses the friction-knob 17 in a decreasing ratio, and brings the burr-wheel 30 down upon the wire in such a manner as to give the required taper to the needle. It will be perceived that by varying the face of the cam, the taper of the needle may be changed, or it may be made to cut away the steel at any point, to a greater or less depth, as may be required.

' What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in their relative order, of the straightner, the eye-punch, the traversing platform, the cutting-off apparatus, and the rotary burr for slabbing down the needle.

2. Holding the wire by means of the punch, which remains in the eye, and the simultaneous movement of the traversing platform, which carries the wire forward for the subsequent operations.

3. The concave or grooved burr, when used for forming needles in the manner described.

4. The combination of the eccentric 16 and revolving burr 30, when so set with reference to each other as to give the required taper to the needle.

5. The combination of the traversing plat form 3, the eye-punch 48, and cutter 39, operating in conjunction with each other, as described.

6. The combination of the cam D and the eye-punch 48, when by reason of the breadth of this cam the eye-punch is caused to retain its hold of the wire during its traverse toward the cutter a distance equal to the length of a needle, substantially as herein described.

THOMAS SANDS.

In presence of- HARLAN JEwE'r'r, JEFFERSON GILBERT. 

